Summary and RecommendationsNew casualties from antipersonnel landmines in Colombia have skyrocketed in recent years, to such a degree that Colombia now has some of the highest annual reported casualty rates in the world. The biggest users of antipersonnel landmines in Colombia, as well as other indiscriminate weapons such as gas cylinder bombs, are Colombias two largest guerrilla groups: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN). Guerrillas frequent use of antipersonnel landmines, improvised out of cheap, readily available materials, leaves hundreds of civilians maimed, blind, deaf, or dead every year. Many of the survivors are among Colombias poorest and most vulnerable citizens: peasants or others who live in impoverished rural regions, far from state authorities and hospitals, and who are often caught in the middle of the conflict involving guerrillas, Colombian security forces, and paramilitary groups. Often, landmine survivors are victims of other abuses too, such as forced displacement. When they suffer a landmine injury, survivors whole lives are seriously affected, not only because of the injurys physical effects, but also because of the incidents impact on their mental health, their ability to support themselves and their families, and their ability to remain in their homes. Over the past two decades, Human Rights Watch has repeatedly documented widespread abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law in Colombia committed by irregular armed groups in the internal armed conflict, including guerrillas and paramilitaries, as well as by the Colombian security forces.1 This report documents the impact on civilian victims of the use of antipersonnel landmines in Colombia, as well as the assistance the government provides to such survivors.2 It is based on dozens of interviews Human Rights Watch conducted in September and October 2006 in the cities of Bucaramanga, Popayán, Medellín, and Bogotá, Colombia, with civilian survivors, health workers, landmine and victim assistance experts from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), national and state government officials, military officers, and a representative of the ELN guerrillas. While it is often difficult to determine with certainty who laid any given antipersonnel landmine, most of the civilian survivors who spoke to Human Rights Watch for this report placed the blame for their injuries squarely on the guerrilla groups, which in many cases had been in the area right before the landmine incident. This information is consistent with reports we received from landmine experts in Colombia. In fact, while the Colombian government has banned the use of landmines, the guerrilla groups have made statements attempting to justify their use of antipersonnel landmines. For example, the FARC has asserted that landmines are the weapon of the poor. An ELN spokesman who spoke to Human Rights Watch said that his group does not believe international humanitarian law applies in Colombia at all. At the same time, many civilian survivors feel they have been ignored by the Colombian government in its policies and funding. The Colombian governments initiatives on landmines have drawn much-needed funding for work on this issue, including on victim assistance. However, it is a fact that civilian survivors often do not receive adequate support. In many cases this is simply a result of lack of awareness: many of these survivors, and even local officials and healthcare providers, are not well informed about the benefits available to landmine survivors. Yet even those survivors who are lucky enough to receive advice about these benefits sometimes find that the benefits can be difficult to access and inadequate to cover some of their basic needs. The laws of war forbid the use of indiscriminate weapons such as antipersonnel landmines, and the parties to the Colombian conflict who use such weapons bear the primary responsibility for their impact on the civilian population. In addition, individuals and commanders of armed groups who intentionally direct attacks against civilians could become subject to prosecution for war crimes, orif the attacks are part of a broader systematic attack against a civilian populationeven crimes against humanity, under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. At the same time, the Colombian government has legal responsibilities to assist the civilians who have suffered landmine-related injuries. International actors also have responsibilities to assist landmine survivors and promote an end to the use of indiscriminate weapons. RecommendationsTo the FARC-EP, ELN, and other irregular armed groups in Colombia
To the Colombian Government
To International Donors, Institutions, and Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty
To States, Institutions, and Individuals Involved in Brokering Peace Negotiations between the Colombian Government and Armed Groups
1 See, e.g., Human Rights Watch, Youll Learn Not to Cry: Child Combatants in Colombia (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2003); The Sixth Division: Military-Paramilitary Ties and U.S. Policy in Colombia, (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2001); Beyond Negotiation: International Humanitarian Law and its Application to the Conduct of the FARC-EP, (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2001); Human Rights Watch, War Without Quarter: Colombia and International Humanitarian Law (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1998). 2 In addition to obligations relating to victim assistance, the government has various other international obligations related to promotion of mine risk education, destruction of stockpiled antipersonnel mines, and destruction of mines in mined areas. Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on their Destruction, articles 4, 5, 6, adopted 18 September 1997, entered into force March 1, 1999 (1997 Mine Ban Treaty). Colombia signed the Convention on December 3, 1997, ratified it on September 6, 2000, and it entered into force on March 1, 2001. Because this report is focused primarily on the plight of civilian survivors of antipersonnel landmines, it highlights the governments victim assistance programs, but does not provide a comprehensive analysis of the governments compliance with other international obligations relating to landmines. |